Where’s the ‘moonshot’ in homelessness solutions?

The opening of a small “safe parking lot” in East County is no small matter.

It is the first lot where homeless people can legally sleep in their cars in East County.

It also is the first project of this type made available through the San Diego County government, which increasingly is taking on a bigger role in addressing homelessness throughout the region. The property is owned by Caltrans — a sign of intergovernmental coordination.

The lot just outside the El Cajon city limits also underscores government’s diverse approach toward assisting people who are homeless, both in a regional sense and targeting specific populations in need.

Historically, homeless services and shelters largely have been clustered in downtown San Diego, but are now being offered in all parts of the county — north, south, east and west. Efforts have been tailored to help women, veterans, people with cars and RVS, and those struggling with drug abuse and mental illness.

The East County lot has spots for only 17 vehicles, but its potential effect is bigger when added to a handful of safe lots elsewhere.

These and other ongoing programs are worthy, but it doesn’t feel like we’re seeing the massive “moonshot” policies some say are needed to reverse the relentless tide of homelessness locally and nationwide.

Homelessness, particularly in California, has been called a crisis by officials at the local, state and federal level, yet substantial progress seems lacking and the problem is getting worse.

Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent throughout San Diego County in recent years to get people off the street. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s past two budgets included $14 billion toward providing homes, shelters and other assistance.

Nearly a year ago, President Joe Biden’s administration launched an all

hands-on-deck initiative called “House America” to put pressure on cities, counties and states to reduce homelessness in exchange for federal resources.

Billions of dollars in funding for housing and services for homeless people was made available through the federal American Rescue Plan, the coronavirus pandemic stimulus package approved in spring 2021.

Another $170 billion for similar purposes was included in the Build Back Better Act that died in Congress. That money is not part of the scaled-down Inf lation Reduction Act. Meanwhile, the Department of Housing and Urban Development on Monday announced the federal government will make $2.8 billion available to homeless services organizations through competitive bids.

There’s no question it takes time for massive new spending to fully kick in, but it would seem by now there would be a more positive trend in combatting homelessness than is apparent.

Homelessness in San Diego County increased 10 percent since January 2020, according to a report released in May by the San Diego Regional Task Force on Homelessness. The 2022 count tallied 8,427 people without a home, but local homeless experts say the real number almost certainly is higher.

In addition to the uncertainty over whether all the money and programs will make a big dent in homelessness, there’s concern about whether governments are on the same page. Also, even the best of plans have been undermined by poor distribution of funds, a bureaucratic mishmash of numerous public agencies and nonprofits, and the high cost of housing.

Also, affordable housing projects, shelters and outdoor camps often run into stiff resistance from nearby residents and businesses.

San Diego and many other jurisdictions are taking a multipronged approach by offering immediate shelter space, clearing out unauthorized homeless camps and providing permanent housing.

To hear federal leaders, the first two policies — particularly providing temporary shelters — are at best a finger in the dike or, at worst, wasteful and counterproductive.

“We do not want them to build shelters. Shelters are not our answer,” Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee on federal relief efforts in April 2021, according to Bloomberg. “We’re hopeful the shelters are going to go away as a consequence of what we’re doing.”

Many local officials agree with the “Housing First” priority to provide people with permanent housing as quickly as possible. But that often has proved to be more of a longer-term approach, while triage action is needed in real time to deal with the crisis on the streets.

For some time, the public has expressed frustration at the lack of progress on homelessness. Enforcement actions against people sleeping outdoors have become central to dealing with homelessness across California, including San Diego.

Last week, the Los Angeles City Council voted to prohibit homeless encampments within 500 feet of schools and day care centers.

The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors voted to ban homeless encampments along the American River Parkway, near schools, libraries and other areas deemed “critical infrastructure.”

With homelessness seemingly pervasive and the clamor for crackdowns rising, it’s easy to lose sight of incremental victories.

San Diego recently opened a women’s shelter downtown, Encinitas extended its safe parking lot program for three years, and a Motel 6 in Vista is being converted to a single-room-occupancy hotel. Momentum is building to create a “safe village” where people without a home are allowed to camp, as KPBS reported on Thursday.

Those are just a few of the positive developments.

A new push is being made to help homeless people who are seniors, Black or disabled, which follows a successful effort to get homeless veterans off the street, according to Gary Warth of The San Diego Union-tribune.

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said 469 people experiencing homelessness have left the shelters for permanent or longer-term housing since the beginning of the year.

Yet the problem still seems overwhelming.

In the face of that, it never hurts to recognize a little upbeat symbolism while waiting for the moonshot: Not long ago, the East County safe parking lot was the site of an illegal homeless camp.

Tweet of the Week

Goes to Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) of NBC News.

“The Inflation Reduction Act is brought to you by the Georgia Senate runoffs.”